Link
Wray: Walkin’ With Link (Epic/Legacy EK 47904)
Once Link had revolutionized rock’n’roll w/the
astounding “Rumble”...scoring a huge hit, by
the way, he was - of course - dropped by his label, w/not
even an album to show for his trouble. Cadence boss, Archie
Bleyer - by all accounts - simply couldn’t stomach
any more of that “juvenile delinquent” music...no
matter how well it sold. Consequently, Link ended up on
Epic...with whom he also had similar troubles, albeit
they did issue his stuff. But not, amazingly enough, much
of the best...which had to wait til Billy Miller &
co took a trawl through the vaults, and pulled together
this crackling set.
Just have a listen to the two takes of “Commanche”,
for starters...and marvel at just how lean & goddamn
MEAN they could get in the 50s...especially after the
idiot producer tells them to get “savage” -
prompting derisive laughter from the musicians, most of
whom were part-Native American. And, of course, whilst
the issued take is truly great, it’s only to be expected
that Link’s most reckless playing - careening around
a set of slashing rhythm/lead chords - is to be found
on the unissued cut... One of the very finest things here,
in fact, never made it onto the album at all: his stunningly
swaggering take on Jimmy Reed’s “Ain’t
That Lovin’ You Baby”...one of Link’s all-too-rare
vocal excursions, in which he convincingly portrays a
greaser overcome w/a lust that knows no equal. Not only
that, but we also get an even greasier/slower alt. take,
to boot...
Other unmistakably great cuts include “Right Turn”
- along w/”Commanche” - the first strong sign
of slippery interwoven rhythm/lead which would become
much more prominent (and even more adventurous/atonal)
over the next few years...not to mention “Lillian”,
Link’s lyrical tribute to his mother, and the near-chaotically
pounding “Mary Ann”, which served as the flipside
to “Ain’t That Lovin’ You Baby”...surely
the finest single pairing in his history...
Now, whilst this material is, arguably, not quite up
to the very best of the few years later - when Link &
co. basically gave up on labels/studios, did all of their
own recording, and licensed it out - it is an essential
part of the Link Wray story...and - still - the best material
here truly betters all but the very best of those later
milestones, whilst being (now) much less well-known.
And here - and ONLY here - can we hear the style in it’s
early maturity, flush w/commercial success...and, already,
pushing the next set of boundaries in a way which would
soon condemn him to the commercial margins, whilst ensuring
artistic immortality. As the man says:
“Make sure the guitar’s prominent!”
John Henry Calvinist
